How Long Does a Pet Scan Take?

Alexander Ross
Alexander Ross
• • 7 min read

The Entire Pet Scan Process Takes About Two Hours. It Can Take up to 60 Minutes for Your Body to Absorb the Injected Radiotracer Radiotracer a Radioactive...

How Long Does a Pet Scan Take?

The entire PET scan process takes about two hours. It can take up to 60 minutes for your body to absorb the injected radiotracer

radiotracer
A radioactive tracer, radiotracer, or radioactive label, is a chemical compound in which one or more atoms have been replaced by a radionuclide so by virtue of its radioactive decay it can be used to explore the mechanism of chemical reactions by tracing the path that the radioisotope follows from reactants to products ...
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. During this time, you'll need to sit quietly and limit your movements. The actual PET scan takes about 45 minutes.

Do all cancers show up on PET scan?

Not all cancers show up on a PET scan. PET scan results are often used with other imaging and lab test results. Other tests are often needed to find out whether an area that collected a lot of radioactive material is non-cancerous (benign) or cancerous (malignant).

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Can you drive immediately after a PET scan?

After the Test

Most people are able to drive themselves home after a PET scan. The only exception is if you took a Valium or Ativan in advance of the procedure. If so, you will need to be driven.

Alexander Ross

Alexander Ross

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Alexander Ross has covered the video game industry for a decade, writing deep dives on game design, esports tournaments, VR developments, and gaming culture.